Soldiers of Destiny about to lay claim to Europe

Bertie Ahern couldn't make it to last weekend's huge rally of the Gaullist/Chiracien Rassemblement Pour la Republique (RPR) because of pressing business at home. But the 25,000 delegates got a personal TV message of solidarite from their Irish political confrere.

The message and the first-time presence at the meeting of the Fianna Fail MEPs' leader, Gerry Collins, and leaders of their allies in the European Parliament, including Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, gave a high-level, symbolic imprimatur to a major collective initiative to create a new Europe-wide political party.

Gerry Collins says he felt completely at home at the rally, testimony to the similarity between the three main components of the Union for Europe group (UFE), Forza Italia, the RPR and Fianna Fail. All are populist, centre-right parties, with strong rural and clientelist roots, who trade politically on a nationalist appeal. All similarly rely on the charisma of a strong leader figure.

With the looming enlargement of the EU to the east, the stakes are substantial. Fianna Fail and its allies, until now just a parliamentary marriage of convenience, hope to rival the dominance on the right of the European People's Party (EPP - Christian Democrats and conservatives) by creating their own party, what might be called a nationalist international.

A working group of the UFE is now drawing up a statement of fundamental values to put to their respective national executives and the hope, Mr Collins says, if they approve it, is to see a formal launch of the party by national party leaders in April. That would be followed by their first joint international conference.

Positioned politically between the outright Euro-scepticism of the Europe des Nations group and the federalists of the EPP, Collins and the UPE co-president, JeanClaude Pasty of the RPR, see plenty of opportunity to recruit unattached parties from the former communist bloc looking for a home in the European Parliament.

Indeed, the leader of one of the key components of the Solidarity alliance which now rules Poland was present at the RPR rally. And Pasty sees possibilities in the Czech Republic, Hungary's opposition Civic Forum and Smallholders Party, and Romania's main opposition. Just for starters. Collins argues that opportunities were missed to recruit the largely farmer-based Centre Parties in Sweden and Finland during the last enlargement as there was no international party to join. They ended up uncomfortably in the Liberals.

There is even, Pasty suggests, the possibility of prising the British Tories from their semi-detached relationship to the EPP (members of the group but not the party). Frontbencher Peter Lilley also attended the RPR rally. And the Greek opposition New Democracy may be about to "reposition".

Some of this is serious "wishful thinking", officials from other groups say. "Dream on!" It won't be easy. The Liberals and the EPP are chasing the same recruits and the latter has particularly useful assets in the recruitment game in the form of Chancellor Kohl.

The close relationship between Fianna Fail and the Gaullists goes back some 25 years to Ireland's accession to the EU, but their parliamentary muscle was substantially boosted two years ago when Mr Berlusconi's Forza MEPs agreed to a merger. The European Democratic Alliance became the UPE and the group, now with 56 members, became parliament's third-largest behind the Socialists and the EPP.

Collins says it is a comfortable marriage. They all argue for a defence of the CAP and structural funds, for "family values", are tough on common policies to combat international crime, and back the Amsterdam Treaty and the single currency. All insist they are "Irish/French/Italian first, European second."

"We are opposed to the EPP federalism," Pasty says. "We do not believe in a united states of Europe."

Where they have disagreed in the past each party is allowed to go its own way. Each writes its own domestic manifesto. And Mr Collins is unlikely to be seen on the stump in Bologna or Marseilles.

But the strong imperative to go beyond their current level of parliamentary co-operation is part-political, part-institutional. The Amsterdam Treaty for the first time recognises the role of political parties and the parliament is expected to use its budgetary powers to set up a budget line for parties into which the new UFE party could tap.

Within the parliament itself key committee positions and delegation leaderships are distributed on a complicated formula based on party size. And group staffing levels are based on both membership and the spread of nationalities represented.

With enlargement parties must grow or be eclipsed. Whatever the reason, the Soldiers of Destiny are about to lay claim to the leadership of Europe.